The Minister of Public Enterprise Sector, Hesham Tawfik, announced that the total net investments portfolio of the insurance companies in Egypt reached EGP 86bn in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2017/18, up from EGP 60bn in FY 2016/17, a growth of 43%.

Tawfik continued during his speech in the ‘Sharm El-Sheikh Insurance, Reinsurance Rendezvous’ that insurance premiums reached EGP 24bn during the last FY, an increase of 32% if compared to the previous year.

“The number of claims paid by insurance companies during the same aforementioned period recorded EGP 13bn, compared to EGP 7bn in FY 2012/13,” the minister announced.

During his speech, he called for deepening the contribution of the insurance sector in the GDP in the next four years, hoping to double insurance premiums, and raise the net investments of insurance companies to reach EGP 150bn during 2022, compared to EGP 86bn in 2015.

He explained that the economic figures and official statistics reveal that the contribution of the insurance sector to the GDP is only 1%, which is undoubtedly a ‘modest’ percentage compared to the contribution of this vital sector in the economies of other similar countries, which is not less than 3% to 4% of the GDP.

Notably, the first annual ‘Sharm El-Sheikh Insurance and Reinsurance Rendezvous’ was held from 28th to 30th of October 2018 in Sharm El-Sheikh, under the theme of ‘spreading your precious ideas’. The event is held under the auspices of the Ministry of Public Enterprise Sector and the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA).

During the Rendezvous, Mohamed Omran, chairperson of the EFSA, said that two companies worked on new premiums against cyber-attacks, and asked for approval from the EFSA.He did not mention the name of the companies but noted that one is Egyptian while the other is a foreign company.

In those terms, he noted that there are discussions to oblige the companies operating in the financial sector, whether in banking or non-banking sectors, including insurance companies. This is to guarantee against the dangers of piracy and electronic attacks to stay in line with activating the financial inclusion.

On the other hand, the Minister of Finance, Mohamed Moait, announced that the government is considering creating a draft law that will oblige insurance on all governmental facilities.

He stressed reconsidering the maximum amount deducted from the tax in exchange for insurance premiums, asserting the importance of the government support for the insurance sector. He described it as one of the economic sectors that plays a role as an engine for economic growth.

In that term, Omran commented on the announcement of the Minister of Finance to reconsider the maximum amount deducted from the tax in exchange for insurance premiums, stating that this will

encourage the entry of new activities in the insurance market.

Omran also called on Moeit to speed up the completion of the draft law on insuring government facilities before the end of the current FY, insisting that insurance is not limited to the constructions of the private sector.